Berta Bonastre: Hockey gives you the tools to face all problems

In the lead up to the International Women’s Day 2023 we are speaking with women in hockey, who are inspiring passionate fans around the world, through their contributions to hockey. In today’s interview, we speak with Berta Bonastre of Spain.

With 203 caps for the Spanish women’s national hockey team, two Olympic diplomas, achieved through participations in Rio de Janeiro 2016 and Tokyo 2020 Olympic games, a historic bronze medal in the 2018 FIH Women’s World Cup, and a bronze medal in the Antwerp European Championship in 2019 and plenty more, Berta Bonastre is a modern day hockey great.

In February 2022, at the age of 29, Berta announced her retirement from international hockey but she did not stay away from the game for too long. A week after her retirement she was appointed Tournament Director (Hockey Terrassa) for the FIH Hockey Women's World Cup 2022 Spain and Netherlands, which was a fantastic event showcasing the best hockey talent from around the world.

The change from athlete to administrator was a fast change that brought it’s challenges but Berta’s approach was to embrace all aspects of the role and try to enjoy being out of her prior comfort zone in the most natural way possible. Her spirited outlook and having a great team to rely upon allowed her to make the event a great personal and professional experience.

Berta credits lessons she has learnt from the hockey field as the major factor that has helped her transition to her role off the field. Managing stress, staying positive, learning to rely on your team and many other skills learnt on the field have carried over for her into her new professional role.

Watch the full interview below, as Berta discusses her role models growing up, the importance of leaving behind a legacy, advice she would give to others transitioning from on-field to off-field careers and plenty more.